Topic: What's your voice?
As I get started and collect a variety of noisemakers and thumpers, some I like more than others. How important is it, before you really start flowing, to find your voices? I'll get something going and then I'll look for something to take it to another level and I grab the wrong thing and it kinda kills the vibe a bit.
A friend of mine makes really minimal, ambient music and he says he went through dozens of keyboards before he found his voice. Working in a big music store and having the pulse of keyboard players in the city he got first dibs on a lot of amazing things when they decided to upgrade or sell their gear in an emergency. He became known as a guy who would buy things on spot if you needed to sell them. All the Jupiters and a lot of other rarities. He loved his Jupiter 8 but it died on him and had to sell it. He bought a ton of things but he never kept them for long if he didn't like them so it's not like he has dozens sitting around.
He says he found his voice in a Minimoog C that he got for $500 because the keyboard was busted. And that he'd never sell it.
SO WHAT'S YOUR VOICE?
Like your never going to sell them, you're always going to love them because they are you and it's easy to get yourself out through them.
On the flip side a friend of mine that has put out records on some decent labels (Metamorphic, 240 Volts, Itiswhatitis) doesn't have the fanciest or most hyped equipment on the planet but he can make some really amazing things at the drop of a hat. With his day job as a sound engineer for a video game company and his experience he says he just thinks of a sound and he knows how to make it and what equpiment he'll need. That's how well he knows his gear. He's taught me a lot just about composition, using your studio and lots of little but important things.
It would be nice for me to get to that point one day too. He has about a dozen or so things in his studio and some stashed away that he will trade or sell later. Cheap things he took a flyer on but doesn't like. If you're making music will you always be perpetually moving stuff in and out?
The reason I ask is because I'm saving up now for something big I think. And wonder if it's necessary to go after a brass ring of synths or better to just buy the right things for me. Like, for whatever reason I keep thinking about the Alesis Andromeda. Because I want to buy something that's not 30 years old and might show up broken. But every demo I hear makes it sound like hell and lame and makes me not want it. Like having a JX-10 with a PG-800 and Waldorf Pulse already, it doesn't convince me that it will help me much. But my minimal friend loved his. He needed a new laptop for performing and sold the Andromeda and bought the laptop and a Nord Modular. Now he wishes he hadn't sold the Andromeda.
SO WHAT ARE YOUR VOICES? Whether they cost you $30 or $3000?
For me right now, I love all my drum boxes. Spanning the ages I have a Univox SR-55, the quite good sounding rhythm box/drum machine in my Solina, Boss DR-55, Stix Programma ST-305, TR-707, Roland R8 MkII and lots of samples.
But synth wise I really only love the JX-10, the Solina organ and the Pulse and feel myself getting a little distanced from my Q Rack, Casio CZ-5000 and MC-202. They are all great machines that I've made great sounds with but the Casio, Waldorf and 202 are such a pain in the ass to use. I only use my Poly 800 MkII as my desk MIDI controller now but I ordered a Moog Slayer mod that may get me excited about it again. I don't really want to sell the machines but can they end up being more of a detriment if they're just sitting in your studio asking to be used? Is there a magic number to how much gear should be at arm's length before it becomes too distracting and anti-productive?
Hmmmm... Thoughts of the day.
